The last Komodo Liveaboard until March 2013 left Labuan Bajo on 30th December, all set for some New Year’s fun. Joining us for the frivolities were Alex, Dave, Yoko, Achim, Joost, Jason, Bob, Intan, Vince and Rosalee. With ages from 8 to 85 and ten different nationalities, it was set to be a great trip. On board the boat were also our dive and boat crew Mariza, Vintty, Valentino, Jo, Achmad, Sulaiman, Heri, Dullah, Marwan and Joss.
We started our trip with an easy check dive at Bidadari, were everyone got a chance to get comfortable back in the water, check their weights and get to know their buddies. The evening was finished with a spot of dinner, making friends and a poker lesson for guides Vintty and Mariza.
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We began New Years Eve with a pretty dive at Sabayor Ridge, where we found amongst other thing, quite a few critters such as cuttlefish, flasher scorpionfish, many nudibranchs and leaf scorpionfish. After this we headed to Batu Bolong for dive/snorkel number two. On the way, our Captain found some competition within the ranks as Rosalee took the helm and navigated us through the national park waters! Batu Bolong was a great dive, as Alex’s reaction (“best dive ever”) shows. Divers were treated to napoleon wrasse, turtles, giant trevally and some lucky divers even saw 2 manta rays. On the surface it was just as fruitful an experience, and the snorkelers had the rare treat of seeing a sargassam frogfish, a peculiar looking fish, which was floating around in some flotsam. After lunch, dive number three took the team to Karang Makassar. The water temperature has dropped slightly here, so it was a bit of a shock to the system when the divers jumped into the water, however this was all forgotten when manta after manta stopped by to say hello. Joost and Achim had an unforgettable experience when they witnesses one manta ‘relieve itself’ at close range..JPG)
After this our dive day was finished, so we headed over to the island of Kaaba, for a sunset surprise for our guests – the fruit bat migration. Luckily the rain held out just long enough for everyone to witness these large creatures flying overhead in their thousands. Dinner was served, and as everyone tucked in, a bunch of pirate marauders invaded with horns and wine to celebrate the final day of the year. Special thanks to Rosalee for leading the savage swashbucklers. Of course, everyone wanted to see in New Years, but after three dives and snorkels, people began slowly fading. Special mention goes out to Vincent, Bob, Joost, Achim, Jason and Jo who all lasted until 12.00am, but not very long after that. J
The next day, we had a sleepy start and a big New Year’s breakfast before heading to Crystal Rock for our first dive. The conditions were pretty easy as we hit the site on slack tide. First things that divers noticed were the surgeonfish playing in their bubbles, just above their heads. After this we were treated to baby sharks, bargabanti pygmy seahorses, moray eels, scorpionfish and some great nudis.
After a little chill out time we were on to the next dive, Castle Rock. The currents were stronger on this dive and this meant we were treated to lots of activity from the schooling fish. Fusiliers were hunted down by sharks and giant trevallys, and schooling bannerfish and red tooth triggerfish added lots of colour to the scene. After this everyone was pretty much ready for lunch and a visit to the beach. On the beach we collected as much rubbish as we could take back to Labuan Bajo with us. We’re lucky that Komodo doesn’t have a large problem with litter, but we try our best to pick up what we can on most of our trips.
While the rest of the team were being great eco warriors and playing in the waves, Rosalee, who is 8, made her first ever dive with dad, Bob, and instructor, Jo. For all 3 it was a fantastic experience, Rosalee is surely part fish!! J Rosalee was so calm and relaxed underwater and we swam about looking at all the tropical reef fish we could find and even saw a baby angelfish. It goes without saying that Rosalee now cannot wait to turn 10 so that she can make a full junior diver course.
After the excitement, we headed back to the boat just in time before the heavens opened. After a little relaxation, it was time to make a night dive on one of the sheltered reefs off Komodo. It was a great dive, with the main theme being cephalopods. Pharaoh cuttlefish, Papuan cuttlefish, pygmy squid and even a blue ring octopus were seen by some lucky divers. We also saw a host of nudibranchs, crabs and other night creatures.
The evening was then spent enjoying dinner, a glass of wine and beer and having a good old singalong to some old classics courtesy of DJs Bob and Joost. Not a bad first day of the year.
The next day, we started our dives in the North of Komodo, at favourite site, the Cauldron. The conditions were perfect and marine life was out in force – sharks, huge giant trevally, tuna, turtles, schools of fusilier and a very special creature – a honeycomb whipray. To keep the theme of passageway dive sites, we headed to the Golden Passage after breakfast. The current had picked up a little by then and we flew through the channel taking in the sites. A huge school of batfish made an appearance and got up close and personal, as did a large school of barracuda. Bumphead parrotfish and a couple of sharks were also sighted. When the divers came up, they also spoke to snorkelers Bob and Rosalee who’d seen a large school of devil rays passing by – lucky things!
The boat then headed back down to the centre of the national park. As we’d had such a great experience at Makassar previously, we thought it wouldn’t hurt to do it again for an afternoon dive. It didn’t disappoint. Mantas were out in force again, some really big females swimming around, and some divers also saw the weird and wonderful thorny back stingray, who look like a little hovercraft. Then it was time for a nap for some relaxing, dinner and more serenading from music lovers Bob and Joost who started up a mini pop quiz game.
We were set for 4 dives on the next day, so it was an early start. We headed over to Tatawa Besar and jumped in for a drift dives. Currents were behaving unpredictably, so it was a bit of a workout at times, but we still saw turtles, nudis, lots of schooling fish and the beautiful orange soft corals that make this site so attractive. Due to the strange activity in the water, the next dive which was planned at Batu Bolong, was moved to the soft coral reefs at Makassar. However, when we arrived, there were mantas all over the surface, so we decided just to jump in and see how many we could see. The answer is lots – Jason thinks around 50. The most we saw at once was 7 swimming around together and Jo and Alex had a bit of a surprise when one female landed pretty much on their heads. Somehow managing to drag their eyes away from the mantas some divers also saw super rare bluering octopus and a ribbon eel out of its hole, swimming, which is an incredibly unusual sight.
Then it was time for Joost’s 100th dive – so of course we dressed him up in pirate garb and got him to brief us all about his favourite dive site – Black Pearl Cove. With shouts of ‘Arrrrrrrrr me hearties’ and lots of calls for rum we were all in good spirits when we jumped in to dive Siaba Besar. This lovely site gave out lots of macro treats from sea moths to crocodile fish and baby batfish to peacock flounders. With a night dive planned at Wainilu we headed into a moody sunset sky. Wainilu delivered it’s normal spectacular mucky treasure in the form of pipefish, nudis, cuttlefish, thornyback boxfish and even a decorator crab with a jellyfish on his back. Most people retired early, as tomorrow’s last day schedule saw an early 6am start.
The last day began with a dive at Tengah. The beautiful reefs of this pinnacle site, great vis and varied marine life kept both divers and snorkelers happy. After this we thought a day dive at Wainilu was in order just to see the difference between day and night. Great decision as amongst many other random critters divers spotted the sought after Wunderpuss! Our final excursion for the day was a trip to Rinca island for dragon spotting were many of the beaties were seen and even some long tail macaques too. After that, it was time for goodbyes and we arrived back in LBJ to suitably sombre weather of drizzle and grey skies. However, with a meet up organised for that night people wouldn’t have to wait too long before recounting their tales and sharing a drink or two again.
Thank you for Joining Wicked Diving Komodo
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